Venting

[breweer]

Local homebrew shop refused to sell me full bags (x2) of any base grains yesterday due to low inventory(large shop, they had 10-12 bags on hand). Drove 1 hour round trip and needed the grains for a double batch I had planned on brewing Sunday to fill a barrel I recently picked up from a local brewery, only to be denied due to “people coming out of nowhere to homebrew” excuse from the owner. These guys have tested my patience quite a few times and this has ended up being the straw that breaks the camels back, so to speak. The plan wasn’t to “toilet paper” their supply, they had the bags and refused to sell to a customer who’s spent THOUSANDS of dollars (not to mention the time to travel to support them) who’s in the store ready to buy! Crazy.

Vent over. Anyone else encounter any similar struggles acquiring supplies locally?

 

[ike8228]

I haven’t had this issue because I don’t brew on the scale you are doing. They probably have imposed a limit internally similar to grocery stores. Due to the virus. They probably have had an influx of people coming in cause like I’m sure most of us have thought, ‘well at least I can brew my own beer if **** hits the fan’, and people have come out of the wood works to buy up supplies. Who knows maybe there are some creative doomsday prepers buying stuff to use as ‘something else?’ Instead of beer (how dare they). I hear ya, I would be frustrated too. Next time take your spouse or friend and leave them in the car, if they deny you full service then have your partner in crime get the other half.

 

[day_trippr]

I'm not 100% sure I got the crux of the rant - the store wouldn't sell two full bags of base malt which would have been 1/6th of their current inventory?

As big a pita wrt plans that might be, given the current state of affairs, I'm inclined to support the store policy. There's gonna be a hella lot of bored peeps out there looking for just about anything legal to do to kill time (and make beer )...

Cheers!

 

[breweer]

I'm not 100% sure I got the crux of the rant - the store wouldn't sell two full bags of base malt which would have been 1/6th of their current inventory?

As big a pita wrt plans that might be, given the current state of affairs, I'm inclined to support the store policy. There's gonna be a hella lot of bored peeps out there looking for just about anything legal to do to kill time (and make beer )...

Cheers!

I hear you, but if they sell out it’s only a matter of when, not if. They may not sell out and that may now be sales they don’t actually get. My point is that 1) I wasn’t hoarding (showed the guys the barrel) 2) if someone takes the time to show up to your store, which btw, is a large warehouse and I was the only customer there at the time, how do you turn them down? Especially one who has spent as much money supporting them as I have.

I’ve reached out to others in the area and have found a smaller shop willing to sell a little further away and will shift my business to them full time now. May seem petty, but this situation was handled really poorly. I emailed the guy instead of leaving a nasty review and he almost immediately posted a notice on Facebook of “limited bag sales” in response, so at least he’s warning folks now.

Glad he chose the folks coming out of the woodworks over the long-standing, loyal customer!

 

[CodeSection]

Actually, I take a different perspective that is similar to the OP. I would think the owner would track who their customers are with such basic data points of: 1) how much they spend with them per year; 2) how regularly do they come in and buy from him; and 3) whether they are a PITA or not.

To limit inventory because "bored peeps", that do not fit the basic data, who may or may not show up is a mistake. It offends good, loyal customers. Very few businesses only deal with the best customers all the time. Therefore, one would think a business owner would take care of the 20% of customers that provide him 80% of revenue.

I seriously doubt the owner can't obtain more inventory. It sounds to me is he is short on capital and doesn't want to buy more inventory until he sees which way the wind is blowing. Paralysis leads to poor business decisions....

To @breweer, find another supplier that truly serves you. Perhaps an online business may make sense since it seems you are driving a long distance.

 

[day_trippr]

Given the information provided imo it's a huge leap to arrive at that "short on capital" conclusion.
Otoh, perhaps the owner has supply chain concerns (he should - I do, and I'm not even in business).

While I've been a practicing cynical pessimist most of my adult life (even have the patch) I've never lived through anything like these times.
Things could be different than expected...

Cheers!

 

[CodeSection]

Given the information provided imo it's a huge leap to arrive at that "short on capital" conclusion.
Otoh, perhaps the owner has supply chain concerns (he should - I do, and I'm not even in business).

While I've been a practicing cynical pessimist most of my adult life (even have the patch) I've never lived through anything like these times.
Things could be different than expected...

Cheers!

LOL, not a leap at all. Wholesale pricing on grain runs roughly 0.65 - 1.13 per pound depending upon the grain. If the owner was holding back 10-12 bags, his wholesale cost was maybe $400-$600. That is hardly an amount to break the bank to not be able to buy more inventory. Obviously, the owner has concerns. As I said, paralysis leads to poor business decisions. Frankly, if he doesn't care about taking care of his good customers, he should fail.

One important lesson that century old businesses learned is to not be afraid of changing business models. Another valuable lesson they learned was to recognize who truly was their customer that provided most of their revenue (the 80/20 rule) and to take care of that customer.

I believe the saying "I've never lived through anything like these times" is mentioned often throughout history and is probably accurate most of the time. Matter-of-fact, I'm sure it has been mentioned over centuries, but somehow businesses survive as well as mankind. There are doers and then there those who become paralyzed. I could never imagine the successful business owners of today like Mark Cuban or Jeff Bezos ever making that statement when they were just starting out and ran into health and financial scares. Oh yea, this time it is different....I keep forgetting that.....

This LHBS owner is paralyzed. He doesn't want to take care of a good customer...I have no sympathy for him.

 

[breweer]

Actually, I take a different perspective that is similar to the OP. I would think the owner would track who their customers are with such basic data points of: 1) how much they spend with them per year; 2) how regularly do they come in and buy from him; and 3) whether they are a PITA or not.

To limit inventory because "bored peeps", that do not fit the basic data, who may or may not show up is a mistake. It offends good, loyal customers. Very few businesses only deal with the best customers all the time. Therefore, one would think a business owner would take care of the 20% of customers that provide him 80% of revenue.

I seriously doubt the owner can't obtain more inventory. It sounds to me is he is short on capital and doesn't want to buy more inventory until he sees which way the wind is blowing. Paralysis leads to poor business decisions....

To @breweer, find another supplier that truly serves you. Perhaps an online business may make sense since it seems you are driving a long distance.

Couldn’t be summed up any clearer. Well done

 

[Ridenour64]

I'm not 100% sure I got the crux of the rant - the store wouldn't sell two full bags of base malt which would have been 1/6th of their current inventory?

As big a pita wrt plans that might be, given the current state of affairs, I'm inclined to support the store policy. There's gonna be a hella lot of bored peeps out there looking for just about anything legal to do to kill time (and make beer )...

Cheers!

Yeah I have to say I disagree with this as well. We’re talking beer grain here, not anything essential (arguable). He was better off making his customer happy this time around. Why hold back inventory? As a customer, I’d be happier to hear that they were out of stock than to be told I couldn’t buy what I needed.

 

[seatazzz]

My LHBS so far has only limited her business hours; she's got two school-age kids, one with some serious mental issues, and she needs to be there for them since schools are closed. I'm running up there today to get some grain, so don't know yet what her inventory is; it's a small shop in a small town, but easily accessible via a major freeway (I-90), and she's got the best prices on full bags. If for some reason she has to limit what she sells to me, I might be a little peeved, but will take it philosophically. OTOH, I kinda agree with OP that his LHBS handled the situation poorly; could have offered something else in place of what OP wanted that he maybe had more of. As to "holding back" his inventory in favor of bored peeps wanting to brew, maybe for the first time, this will help his business in the long run; more sales=more profit=more revenue to buy more supplies for everybody once the foofoorah dies down. Still could have handled it better, IMO.

We all have to adjust to the current situation as best we can; it will be over someday.

 

[danielthemaniel]

I understand your frustration. You committed your time and effort to get the ingredients you need. Common sense you say the shop owner could simply buy more grain to help ward off any shortage. Devils advocate would say, shop owner is taking a better to piss off 1 to please the many approach on grain selling. Who knows what their delivery schedule looked like. Maybe they got a delivery that day. Maybe their previous order went off before the extent of the change from Covid-19 was understood. The next delivery may be pushed back due to the burden placed on the logistics industry. I guess I'm saying I get you frustration but I dont disagree with the homebrew shop's decision without knowing the other variables associated with their decision.

 

[user 263363]

Call me a creep, but the parts of your story about the store being a warehouse and them declaring no more bulk grain sales the other day got me digging and I believe I know where you are talking about. Most likely the same store I go to. I was actually going to pick up a sack of grain that day also, but when I called they just shortly said they did not have enough to sell a whole sack.

I am far from a business owner, but is a sale not a sale? Whether 5 people buy the grain or 1 person buys it?

I always feel like this hobby really pushes the "support local" thing and I can definitely get behind that, but sometimes the locals make it harder than it needs to be. There's another store that would be a bit more of a drive for me, but they seem to be smaller and newer and ready to make new customers.

 

[Dog House Brew]

I agree on the hard to support local sometimes. I owned a business for 25 years. There is no way I wouldn't make the sale. I'd drive all night to pick up supply if I had to, I've done it. When your running a business, you make the sale and figure the rest out. I sold so many jobs when I had no idea how I was going to pull it off. There are just too many options out there. Maybe the brewery could sell you a sack. Just my $.02 of course

 

[smcinco]

I agree on the hard to support local sometimes. I owned a business for 25 years. There is no way I wouldn't make the sale. I'd drive all night to pick up supply if I had to, I've done it. When your running a business, you make the sale and figure the rest out. I sold so many jobs when I had no idea how I was going to pull it off. There are just too many options out there. Maybe the brewery could sell you a sack. Just my $.02 of course

Exactly. The customer is always right. This isn't Billy Ball.

 

[breweer]

Call me a creep, but the parts of your story about the store being a warehouse and them declaring no more bulk grain sales the other day got me digging and I believe I know where you are talking about. Most likely the same store I go to. I was actually going to pick up a sack of grain that day also, but when I called they just shortly said they did not have enough to sell a whole sack.

I am far from a business owner, but is a sale not a sale? Whether 5 people buy the grain or 1 person buys it?

I always feel like this hobby really pushes the "support local" thing and I can definitely get behind that, but sometimes the locals make it harder than it needs to be. There's another store that would be a bit more of a drive for me, but they seem to be smaller and newer and ready to make new customers.

Odds are good we're talking about the same place. Glad you at least called ahead to receive the news & I agree completely with your "sale is a sale" point, there is no logic in holding limited amounts for POTENTIAL sales. Sell, then figure out the next steps should be 101 level how to run a business. I can speak for others who have had similar experiences with this particular shop, and a few of them making the decision to move away from using them. I've really made a lot of effort to support this local business, and as you mentioned, this particular business has pushed me to a breaking point for me to move on to another option(s). I'm no longer angry with them now that I've had time to "cool my jets", but I definitely wont support these poorly handled situations anymore.

FYI - the smaller shop that just opened up will definitely struggle to meet your needs if you brew anything over 5 gal (like I do), and are pretty basic with what they have stocked. BUT - not only did they turn around and sell me two bags of 2-row(when the large WH couldnt!), they delivered it to my home yesterday morning! Their shop is closed during this corona fiasco, but they are taking phone/email orders and completely surpassed my expectations yesterday morning when they let me know they'd be personally delivering it to my home! I met this new owner at a local homebrew club event and he seems like a great guy, so I'll be happy to be more flexible to shift my support to a different local business!

 

[CodeSection]

....FYI - the smaller shop that just opened up will definitely struggle to meet your needs if you brew anything over 5 gal (like I do), and are pretty basic with what they have stocked. BUT - not only did they turn around and sell me two bags of 2-row(when the large WH couldnt!), they delivered it to my home yesterday morning! Their shop is closed during this corona fiasco, but they are taking phone/email orders and completely surpassed my expectations yesterday morning when they let me know they'd be personally delivering it to my home! I met this new owner at a local homebrew club event and he seems like a great guy, so I'll be happy to be more flexible to shift my support to a different local business!

With such a high review of their customer service along with being able to fulfill your two bags of 2-Row purchase, why not reward them and post their name here so that others can benefit?

 

[breweer]

With such a high review of their customer service along with being able to fulfill your two bags of 2-Row purchase, why not reward them and post their name here so that others can benefit?

Good point. The shop is Carolina Brew Supply - https://www.carolinabrewsupply.com/

 

[Cyclman]

It may be as simple as the fact that that the grain will be sold at a higher price per pound, rather than by the bag. If supplies are limited, they want to maximize their margins.

If it were me, I would probably not be buying from that store anymore.